


West Egg High: Scrambled

by sapphic_satanist



Category: Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Gatsby (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Break Up, Cheating, Confessions, F/F, F/M, Fake Dating, Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, High School, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Multi, Other, Repression, Toxic Masculinity, Transphobia, also it's gay and has way too many pov characters, nick jay and jordan are all trans because I said so, not a lot of angst but just like emotions, nothing too heavy though if you read the original book you'll probably be fine, this basically follows the original plot of the novel until I kind of go off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28200120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphic_satanist/pseuds/sapphic_satanist
Summary: Nick Carraway's very straight, very cis, and very in denial. Unfortunately, he happens to be next door to Jay Gatsby- who's threatening to tear down all his walls. He also happens to be head-over-heels "in love" with Nick's cousin.When baseball prodigy Jordan Baker got their scholarship to East Egg Preparatory School, they didn't anticipate it to be such a miserable switch. Luckily, they still have Daisy with them. Daisy, who'd been their best friend forever. Daisy, who they'd been hopelessly pining for since Sophomore year.Jay Gatsby has a plan. Get popular, get back with Daisy, and go to a good college. Be a "real man." But five years is a long, long time to keep up a facade.Myrtle Wallis hasn't exactly had an easy go of things. She works a shitty job, goes to a shitty school, and has two shitty boyfriends. But meeting Chrysanthemum Lane might just be the push she needs to finally kick herself into shape. And it doesn't hurt that Chrys is downright gorgeous either.Daisy Fay seems like she has it all. She's rich, popular, head cheerleader, and dating the goddamn quarterback. But Tom's a jerk, and it doesn't help that Jordan's so nice and witty... no, Daisy's not gay. What are you talking about?
Relationships: Jay Gatsby & Meyer Wolfsheim, Jordan Baker & Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker & Jay Gatsby, Jordan Baker & Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker/Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson/Original Female Character, Nick Carraway/Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway/Mr. McKee
Comments: 31
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic
> 
> Thank you to the people on the Gatsby server for beta-ing this for me and helping me upload this
> 
> I'll try to post one chapter per week.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You ever wanted to read The Great Gatsby, but set in a modern American high school and also everyone's gay?
> 
> No?
> 
> Too bad.

Nick’s phone was blowing up with texts from his cousin. He perched himself on top of a suitcase, pulling his green sweatshirt close around him as a draft floated through his new room. He had just moved to the town and already had over twenty texts from Daisy. Setting aside his laptop, he scrolled through them.

_Hey heard u moved. Wanna come over?_

He bit his lip in thought. He hadn’t seen Daisy in years, but he didn’t really have anywhere else to go. His parents were out, he had no friends, and he was suffering a serious case of writer’s block. Why not?

_'I’ll be there in ten minutes, ‘kay?'_

_'Can’t wait 2 c u :D'_

\- - - - - - - - - -

Taking a deep breath, Nick rang the doorbell of Daisy’s obnoxiously extravagant house. In the few moments it took someone to answer, he’d already made a plan to bolt, get a plane ticket, and be all the way back in Illinois before someone could even ask where he’d gone.

“Nick?”

His head snapped up, staring back at the veritable giant in front of him. “Tom?”

“Yeah, dude! It’s been forever!” Nick had hung around Tom throughout most of elementary. He’d always been a bit of a loser, but Tom was popular and liked him well enough, so he was just there. But then Tom moved to go to private school, and they lost touch. “You’re so tiny!”

“Yeah, well, you are… gargantuan.”

“Still an author, I see,” Tom muttered, leading him inside.

“Nicky!” Daisy squealed, wrapping a pale arm around him. “How’ve you been?” She bounded over to the couch and patted the seat next to her, strawberry blonde ponytail bouncing excitedly. Nick followed suit, looking around the lounge. Tom had taken a seat in a large leather armchair by the mantle, scaring Daisy’s cat off of it and onto the lap of the other girl in the room. She lay across the other couch, short ombre black-to-blonde hair splayed out messily around her head. She hadn’t said a word since Nick arrived, but as her golden, muscular arms tossed a baseball up and down, he couldn’t help but feel like he knew her from somewhere. Other than the four of them, there were trophies and pictures lining the mantle and the wall, and two half-eaten bags of chips on the coffee table where Tom was resting his feet.

“Been better, been worse, you know. How’s Pammie?”

Daisy rolled her eyes at the mention of her sister. “She doesn’t talk to me… or anybody. Just her fish. You know how kids are.”

Before Nick could respond, a groan emanated from the girl on the couch.

“God, I’m so stiff!” She pushed the cat off of her. “I’ve been lying there forever, christ.”

“I told you to get up!” Daisy cried. “It’s your own fault if you’re ‘stiff’.”

The girl shrugged, stood, and stretched. After a moment of thought, she tossed her ball over to Nick, who just barely caught it. “So, Nick, is it?”

He nodded.

“You going to West or East?”

“Oh, West.”

“Blah!” Tom exclaimed at the mention of the school. Daisy shot her boyfriend a warning look, but he waved her off. “You woulda been better off with us.”

“Come on, West Egg’s not a bad school,” the girl retorted.

For context, Daisy added to Nick, “Dani went to West last year.”

“Look, sure, is it as prestigious as East Egg? No, course not. Is it chaotic as all Hell? Fuck yeah. But it’s not an absolute shit hole,” The girl, Dani, apparently, defended. “It’s better than Ash, at least.”

“So, you went to West Egg?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, for a while.”

“Do you know anybody? ‘Cause I don’t know a single-”

“Okay, well, you have to know Jay.”

“Jay who?”

“Jay Gatsby?”

“Gatsby?” Daisy asked, jotting up. Dani, Nick, and Tom exchanged a look of bewilderment. “What Gatsby?”

Dani wrinkled her brow but continued. “He was my friend, kinda, back at West. Sweet kid, but he threw these amazing parties and-”

“Do you guys hear that?” Daisy interrupted. Listening again, the muffled sound of Tom's ringtone, East Egg's school anthem, was playing.

“Shit, left my phone in the other room. I’ll get it.”

Daisy looked between Dani and Nick before pushing herself up. “I’ll join you.” She winked aggressively before slipping out of the room with Tom.

“What was that about?” Nick asked, handing back her ball.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know, Daisy’s got this thing where she tries to set me up with literally every guy she knows.”

“Seriously? That’s… strange. Do you know why?”

“No, it makes no sense. I don’t even like any of the guys.” She paused, gray eyes bouncing around the ceiling in thought as she turned the ball over and over in her sun-kissed hands. “I mean, you’re cool, I guess.”

“Oh, uh, thanks? I’m not interested, though. I’m, uh, I’m-” _gay _, a tiny voice in his head whispered. He winced and ignored it. “- not really looking fo-”__

____

____

“Hey, it’s fine, dude. I wasn’t trying to start anything, anyway.” Dani was fidgeting with her maroon, sleeveless hoodie, looking anywhere but Nick.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Blame Daisy, if anyone.” They laughed and Dani finally eased up. “So, you’re a writer?”

“Eh, kind of. I’ve been trying to write something good for a while now, but the ideas just aren’t coming.”

“Dude, you’re going to West Egg. Trust me, you’re going to have plenty of material soon.”

“Is that a warning?”

“No.” She turned, eyes baring into his soul. “It’s a threat.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re terrifying?”

A sly smile crept onto her face. “No one who’s still around.”

“You’re great, you know.”

“Eh, you’re not so bad yourself.”

Suddenly, they heard shouting from the other room. Dani sighed.

“Is everything alright in there?”

“Yeah, they just fight all the time.”

“Should we stop them?”

“It’ll be over in a minute. Trust me, it’s best to leave it be.” Dani patted him on the back and took another concerned glance over to the door.

“What do you think they’re fighting about?”

“Probably the girl from Ash.”

“Who?”

“Wait- you don’t know?”

“No.”

“I thought everyone knew! Tom’s, uh, he’s probably cheating. Yeah, with this girl from Ash.”

“Oh.” Nick knew he shouldn’t be surprised- that just sort of how Tom was. Still, he felt bad. “Does Daisy know?”

“I hope not. Otherwise, she had even less self-respect than I thought.”

“Why don’t you tell her?”

Dani started a bit. “I, uh, I can’t. It- it’s complicated. She wouldn't do anything about it, I've asked. Better to spare her feelings.”

“I guess?”

Before long, Daisy and Tom came in again. Their faces were red and their breaths deep, but there was no obvious contempt present.

“So… how are you guys?” Daisy asked, throwing out another forced wink. There was something in her voice now. Her smile and eyes too. An underlying sadness that Nick hadn’t noticed before, but now was clearer than day. Just watching her made him uncomfortable.

“I’m, uh, I’m good. Actually, I’m going to head out. I start school tomorrow, so I just kind of want to get some time to adjust, you know?”

“Oh, wait! You should get Dani’s number before you go,” Daisy pushed.

Nick and Dani exchanged a look. “Uh, sure,” she said, standing to put it in his phone. “You know, just to keep in touch. I can be your guide around West. God knows you’ll need it.”

“Thanks,” Nick said quickly before ducking out. Leaving Daisy’s veritable mansion of a home, a weight had been lifted off his chest. He sighed of relief as he made the journey back to his own, small place, away from the drama and facades Daisy’s world was made of.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Might I interest you in some trixic pining?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I've been waiting all week to post this chapter.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's interacted with this fic in any way. Honestly, means the world to me.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy and please comment :)

Jordan tried to hold in a sigh of relief as Tom left. They could bear him better than most people, but, still, they preferred when it was just Daisy and them. They collapsed back into the couch.

“So,” Daisy sang, wiggling her eyebrows. “What do you think of Nick?”

“I mean, he’s cool, I guess.”

Daisy groaned, standing and smoothing over her lace top. Jordan did their best to keep their eyes from following her hands down her perfect curves. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say! ‘Yeah, I wanna bang your cousin.’ Is that what you want from me, Daisy?”

“You have to get a boyfriend one of these days.”

“Why?”

“Well, I mean— look at you! I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”

_The right idea_ , Jordan correcting internally. “I’m not going to date a guy just so people don’t think I’m gay. That’s so dumb.” _‘Specially ‘cause I am gay. And trans. And in love with you_ , they thought.

Daisy tensed a little. “Yeah, well… still. I want you to get a date.”

"Why?”

“‘Cause… you’re my friend.”

“Look, I’ll give it a shot with Nick, okay? Does that sound good?”

“Yay!” Daisy squealed, wrapping her arms around Jordan. “You will not regret this.”

_I’m definitely going to regret this._ “We’ll see,” they said with a pained smile.

“Hey…” Jordan began after a few minutes. “What was that fight with Tom about earlier? Are you guys okay?”

“Oh, yeah. It was just this girl calling him, but, you know, he said it was nothing, so it- it’s fine.”

“Oh. Uh, if he were cheating, what would you do?”

She chuckled, strained. “You’ve asked me this before.”

“Have you changed your mind?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve been with him since Freshman year. At this point, I don’t even know what I’d do without him.”

_You could be with me._ Jordan slapped themself internally. Daisy was popular, pretty— a cheerleader dating the quarterback, for fuck’s sake. And Jordan? A closeted agender lesbian on an underfunded girl’s softball team. They grunted— at least West let them play actual baseball. “Do you love him?”

“Maybe? I don’t know— I’m just seventeen! Why’re you asking anyway?”

“Just ‘cause it’s a new year, I wanted to make sure you were happy with him.”

“Thanks, that- that means a lot, actually. You’re, uh, you’re a great friend, Danielle.” Neither one seemed comfortable with that word— _friend_ —, but they each let it simmer between them. Jordan squirmed at their birth name.

“So…” Daisy began, leading them into the kitchen. “Have you met any of the girls on the team yet?”

“No.”

“You should!” Daisy responded, face half-stuffed in her fridge. “You want anything?”

“Uh, just Coke works.”

Daisy tossed one at them, pouring herself a glass of lemonade. “Anyway, you should talk to them. You should have more friends than just me and Tom at East.”

“Why can’t you just introduce me to your friends?”

“I’m not sure you’d really get along with them…”

“Oh my god— you’re embarrassed by me.”

“No! I’m not! It’s just— these are prep school kids, Dani. I don’t think you’d like them.”

“I like you.”

“We’ve known each other since kindergarten. This’ll be different. Look, I’ll introduce you to them on Monday, ‘kay? See for yourself.”

“Deal.” 

“I can’t believe we’re going to the same school again! I’m so excited!”

_\- - - - - - - - - -_

Jordan sighed as they ducked into their car. Before pulling out, they shot Jay a quick text.

_New guy at west. keep an eye out for a nick._

Then, they called up their friend Lucille from West, putting her on speakerphone as they drove.

“Hey, dude, what’s up?” she asked.

“Nothing much, how’re you?”

“Fine, fine— it’s gonna be weird without you here this year.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’d go to East in a heartbeat! You’re still coming to Jay’s parties, though, right?”

“If he doesn’t hate me for transferring, then totally.”

“Good. Also, I may have told some people you died of tuberculosis, so just be careful about that.”

“And they believed you?” 

“Have you met the kids at West? Of course, they bought it.”

“You’re an evil genius, Luce.”

“High praise coming from you. I’ll wear the title with pride.”

“What do you mean ‘coming from you?’”

“Those pranks you played on the teachers? Legendary.”

“Eh, what can I say? They tried to bar me from the baseball team— had to take measures into my own hands.”

“Speaking of the team… I got in!”

“No way, man! That’s fucking awesome!”

“Thanks! Hey, maybe we can do some practice together tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. ‘Round three work for you?”

“That works! See you then!”

Jordan sighed. They were going to miss West Egg. Sure, going to East was a great opportunity, but at least they had friends at West. At least they could be out at West. They pulled into their driveway, noting their parents weren’t home, and stepped out, taking in the crisp Autumn air. _At least some things never change_ , they thought, heading to the doorstep. They glanced down at the package at their feet and broke out into the largest smile. Their binder finally came.  
They grabbed the package and raced upstairs to their room. They took a pic of it in and out of the package and sent them to Jay and Lucille, their smile not slipping until they stood in front of the mirror.  
“Guess there’s no point to having this anymore,” they muttered, kicking at their carpet. “Fucking conservative prep school.” They fell back on their bed, rolling over to avoid looking at the school uniform hung on their door. The girl’s school uniform, complete with a dark green skirt. “Fucking. East. Egg.”  
Their phone dinged and they reached back to grab it, stretching a bronze arm at far as they could without turning around. They brought the screen to their face to read Jay’s text.

_That’s great! I’m so happy for you. Remember— no more than 8 hours._  
_Also, I’ll look out for that Nick kid._

_Thanks!_ they responded. _And you should, he’s cute ;)_

_For the last time, Jordan, I’m not gay._

_Sure you’re not ;)_

_I’m not!!!_

_Whatever._


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to semi-adherence to the plot of the novel.
> 
> CWs for this chapter would be internalized homophobia, cheating, and a bit of ab-se*
> 
> *It's the equivalent of Chapter Two in the book, so do with that as you will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to start editing these at a reasonable time earsghfmjhghfdsa
> 
> This one is quite a bit longer than the previous two, by the way
> 
> Enjoy

Nick had not intended to spend his entire first math class at West Egg zoning out on the back of a guy’s head, and yet here he was. He did not know the name of the person in question, nor anything about him, which was good. It was easier to avoid developing a crush when all you know about them is what they look like from the back, and it’s easier to deny one's extreme gaiety without a crush. Nick, with almost a decade of experience, was a master of denial. He knew when to force his eyes to stare at the girls around him, when to actually try to listen to the teacher, and when to fill his mind with every song he’d heard in the last week to block out the guy’s high, melodious voice.

Luckily, when the class let out, he was gone before Nick had the chance to learn more about him, so he was safe. He’d also managed to grasp just enough of what the teacher was saying, so, really, no harm, no foul. At least, that’s what he told himself as he made his way to the cafeteria, sick with himself.

Unsurprisingly, most of the tables were filled with close-knit groups by the time he arrived. He scoured the room and, after weighing his options, headed over to the last mostly-empty table. Two girls sat at it, both in yellow. One was dressed simply, with loose brown tresses and minimal makeup. The other had black and yellow dreads and a leather jacket. Despite looking like the two most disparate people on the planet, the two were leaning over the table at each other, immersed in conversation.

“Hey,” he began, drawing their attention. “Can I sit here?”

“Sure!” the first girl chirped, gesturing to the bench.

“Thanks.” He sat, pulled out his drafting notebook and a pencil, flipped to a new page, and titled it _West Egg— Recollections._ He cocked his head at the title, adjusting his glasses, but decided to keep it. The punk girl leaned over his shoulder.

“Whatchya writing?”

“Oh, yeah, this. I’ve been struggling with writer’s block, but my friend Dani said I might find some good stories here, so, uh, yeah.”

“Oh, you know Jo— Danielle?” the other girl butted in. “She’s one of my best friends! I’m Lucille, Luce for short.”

“Oh, cool! I’m Nick.”

“I think she mentioned you! Well, it’s nice to meet you, Nick.”

“Nice to meet you too, Luce.” He smiled at her and then turned to the punk girl. “And you are?”

“Chrysanthemum,” she responded, deadpan. “Chrys. She/Her.”

“That’s a cool name.”

“Is it though?”

“Yes?”

“It’s cool until you have to live with it. Thus, Chrys.”

“Well… I’m glad to meet you, Chrys.”

“Good to meet you too. And by the way, your friend is dead wrong. Nothing exciting ever happens ‘round here.”

“Well, don’t you have a stick up your ass?” Lucille said.

Chrys rolled her eyes. “I have my reasons.” She turned to Nick. “If you want stories, hang around Jordan. East Egg is fucked up, man. Fucked. Up.”

“Jordan?”

“Or, you know, anyone over there,” she choked out.

Nick swallowed, returning to his lunch and making a note to write down the whole conversation when Chrys wasn’t looming over him.

_\- - - - - - - - - -_

If there was one thing Nick Carraway hated, it was writer’s block. If there was another, it was Tom Buchanan. If there was a third, it was public restrooms. It wasn’t that he didn’t know which was one to pick, he was fairly certain he was a guy. That’s a lie— he was very good at convincing himself he was a guy. There was just a certain uneasiness he always felt around them that he never could quite place. Nevertheless, he sucked it up and walked into the mens’.

After he got out, he made his way across campus to the parking lot. Halfway through the walk, he paused, stomach-churning. Tom sat in his blue car, tossing middle fingers at anyone who looked at him funny. A small crowd had gathered around him, taunting him. Keeping his head down, Nick pushed through them and slid into the passenger’s seat.

“How was your first day?”

Nick shrugged. “Okay, I guess. You?”

“Same as always.” Tom pulled out and Nick shoved his earbuds into his ears, finally finishing his first entry into _West Egg— Recollections _ _ _ _._____

______ _ _ _ _

Before long, however, it became clear that Tom was not, in fact, taking him home.

“Tom? Where are we going?”

“I wanted to introduce you to a friend.”

Nick scoffed. _You can’t just kidnap me!_ “This is Ash Valley, though,” he said as they passed the sign. He couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, so?”

“I just didn’t think you’d ever willingly talk to a person from Ash.”

“Well… it’s a special friend.”

Nick gulped, and as they pulled to a stop next to an auto repair shop, it became clear that he was about to meet Tom’s ‘other girl.’

“Hey!” Tom called as he stepped out. Nick hesitated for a second before following. The girl, who had dark skin and brown hair tied in a messy bun, looked up and smiled. She brushed her dust-covered hands off on her flannel. Another boy, even dirtier than her, came out of the shop. Faster than lightning, she jerked away from Tom as soon as she saw him.

“Tommy! How’ve you been?” the boy called, coming over and wrapped his arm around the girl, who smiled unconvincingly at him.

“Good, good. And you?”

“I’ve been fine. How’s the new car working for ya?”

“It’s been good.”

“Then why’re you here?”

“Just wanted to stop by, you know. I was planning on going out to town if you wanna come,” he said, looking at the girl.

“Sorry, man, we’ve got work.”

“Please, Willy, can I go?” the girl asked, her brown eyes large and pleading.

“‘M, you work here too. I don’t wanna have to fire you.”

“Please? I can make it up to you later?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Then fine!” he relented. The girl bounded right into Tom’s car. Nick felt nauseous watching this whole interaction but found himself incapable of objecting, as though his mouth had been sealed shut by iron bars.

“You forgot to introduce me,” the girl chided at Tom as they pulled out. There was an adorable childishness about her, a depressingly naive ecstaticism.

“Nick, this is Myrtle. Myrtle, Nick.”

He mumbled his hellos and pulled out the notebook, assuming whatever was to come should be chronicled.

“Tom, can I see your dogs?”

“No, ‘M.”

She pouted.

“Fine, you can walk them this weekend.”

“Thank you! Nick, have you met his dogs?”

“No.”

“They’re so cute! Can I show him a picture?”

Tom groaned and handed her his phone. Her face fell. “What is it, babe?”

“You, uh, you have a text from Daisy.”

“Oh. Thanks.” The car ride, however short, was increasingly awkward after that.

They pulled up to a small, run-down diner, which appeared to be closed from the outside. However, when Myrtle knocked at the door, someone opened it, letting them inside. The person was leaning against the wall, observing Myrtle and Tom like a hawk. They had ebony skin, bright red hair, and wore a denim vest with way too many pins on it.

“You’re new,” they stated matter-of-factly.

“Uh, yeah. I’m Nick.”

“Cat. She/They.” They looked him up and down, then continued. “You a friend of Myrtle’s or Tom’s?”

“Tom’s.”

“Ew, why?”

“Uh, friend of a friend. I don’t really like him though.”

“No one does. Well, ‘cept my sister, but I honestly don’t get why.”

“Oh, Myrtle’s your sister?”

Cat nodded and gestured for him to follow her as she made her way towards the other two.

“Okay, so I’m definitely inviting Mackenzie,” Myrtle said, scrolling through her phone.

“Ugh, seriously?”

“Cat, I thought you liked Mackenzie?”

“She’s so irritating, though!”

“She’s my friend and she’s coming,” Myrtle asserted.

“Fine, then can I bring Chester?”

“Deal.”

Tom groaned, his feet up on a table. “You have such terrible friends!”

Cat rolled their eyes but didn’t protest. “Well, keep that to yourself when they get here. I do not want Chester up my ass about this.”

“Well, that sounds like a problem between the two of you.”

Cat sighed, sitting next to Nick in the corner. “You’re his friend, kinda. Any clue why she’s dating him?”

“No clue.”

“Like, Will is an asshole, so I’m glad she found someone else. But did it have to be fucking Tom?”

“Why doesn’t she just leave Will, then?”

“His dad owns her workplace, and she needs that job. We’ve tried to get her one somewhere else, but it’s the only one she’s managed.”

“Jesus. That’s so fucked up.”

“Welcome to Ash.”

When Chester and Mackenzie finally showed up, Nick’s stomach dropped. He was almost positive that Chester, a lanky, feminine man with tawny hair and light freckles, was the guy from his math class. He was practically hyperventilating by the time he finally introduced himself.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you around here.”

“Oh yeah, this is my first time. I’m Nick, by the way.”

“Chester.”

_Okay, that was easier than I anticipated_ , he thought, watching as Chester made his way to the back and immediately pulled out his phone, not saying a word to anybody outside of a short greeting. He turned back to Cat, who was raising an eyebrow at him, smug smirk on their face.

“Do you know Chester?” she asked.

“What? No,” he lied. Well, tried to lie.

“You definitely seem like you know him. Spill.”

“I think he might be in my math class. That’s all.”

“I could set you up if you wan—”

“I’m not gay!” he protested, a little too quickly. Cat’s hands jumped up in surrender.

“Got it, damn.”

“Sorry, I’m just—”

“In denial?”

“What? No, I told you that I’m not.”

“I don’t know, man. I have a pretty good intuition for this stuff.”

“Well, I’m— I’m me! I don’t think your intuition would overrule that.”

“Wanna bet?”

Nick laughed, but Cat’s face was completely serious. “Are we really doing this?”

“I’m broke, dude. Bets are half my income.”

“Fine— twenty bucks.”

“You’re on.”

Nick was filled with regret for the rest of the afternoon. Not all because of the bet, although it was a huge draw, but also for his decision to let Tom drag him along to the little party. Mackenzie turned out to be a loud young woman with a terrible love for talking about herself. Myrtle and Tom were able to pretend to be invested in her tangents well enough, and Chester was completely zoned out, leaving Nick to talk with Cat, awkwardly dancing around anything vaguely related to homosexuality.

He was able to learn a bit more about the people in the room: Cat was two years older than Myrtle and working through community college. Myrtle was a c-student at Ash and had never had a boyfriend before Will and Tom. Despite her grades, she was supposedly “smart as shit” (Cat’s words) when she wanted to be. Mackenzie and Chester were both at West Egg and had dated briefly in freshman year before both deciding it was a terrible decision they should never repeat or talk about.

Despite the awkwardness of it, the afternoon had maintained a general spirit of joviality, up until an argument between Tom and Myrtle had been having increased to the point that everyone was staring at them, dead-silent.

“Jesus Christ, Myrtle! Would you give it up already?”

“I just don’t want to always be second best to Daisy all the—”

“Don’t you dare say that name!”

“Why not? I’ll say it whenever I like!”

“Don’t test me, Myrtle….”

“Daisy!” she yelled. “Daisy! Daisy!”

“ _Myrtle!_ ” Tom bellowed, his face red. “Enough.” He shouldered past her, knocked her into a table on his way out.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Mackenzie and Cat rushed to help her. Tom drove off, abandoning Nick in the corner. Nick was left not knowing what to do, as he didn’t know Myrtle well enough to try to comfort her, but he didn’t want to just leave. Chester, in the same boat, caught his eye for a second and hitched his chin towards the back exit. Grateful, Nick slipped out with him.

“Thank you, I— I really didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s fine, really. It, uh, it happens a lot. Myrtle says it’s fine, but… we’re all hoping she wisens up enough one day to listen to Cat and dump him. She’s a stubborn girl, though.”

“I could try to get Tom to— he’d never listen.”

“See? Sometimes you just kind of have to do your best and wait it out.” Chester and Nick nodded at each other in silence for a few minutes. “Hey, uh, do you go to West Egg?”

“Yeah, I just transferred there. Why?”

“I just thought I recognized you from somewhere. I think you might be in my math class.”

Nick’s heart stopped for a moment. “Uh… yeah, maybe?”

“Well, um, do you maybe wanna go out sometime? Like, you know, as a-”

“I’m not gay!” Nick protested again as if the repetition would make it true. It was getting harder to deny as he talked to Chester, though. “I mean, uh, not that that’s a bad thing! I just, uh, I just—”

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t freak out about it, okay?”

“Okay.” He was very much still freaking out about it but did his best not to show it. “Uh, well, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

Nick was shaking so hard that climbing into the bus was nearly impossible. He had only calmed down minimally by the time he got back to his house but was just steady enough to finish his journal entry for the day. He flipped through it and sighed. Dani was right. This was going to be one hell of a year.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by the Myrtle Deserved Better squad.
> 
> CW for implied ab-se

Myrtle’s breaths were deep as she wandered through the sidewalks. She wasn’t even sure where she was at this point. It was her normal approach to when she was hurt, walk for hours to nowhere and get lost before calling Cat to guide her home. Cat knew the entire city like the back of their hand. She was smart, she was badass. And Myrtle was… their little sister? She didn’t really know what she was. At least Cat had the courage to be out. Myrtle had tried to come out as bi before, but it didn’t go too well for her, so she’d been in the closet since she started high school.

She rubbed at the bruise on her shoulder as she turned off the road, going up a hiking trail just off the side. She took a whiff of the pine around her, finding it calming. As she walked, she named each flower she saw in her head. She’d found a book on plant life in the attic a few years back and had been consuming any information on it since.

Her panting got heavier as she got further up the trail, so when she finally came across a bench, she collapsed.

“Hello?” a voice asked. Lazily, Myrtle’s head rolled up to find a tall, black girl standing over her. Her dreads were pulled into a high ponytail and her yellow button-up was immaculate despite the hike it took to get up there. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Myrtle said, sitting up.

“Why’re you apologizing?”

“Just cause, uh… I don’t—I don’t really know,” she chuckled. The girl laughed too and sat next to her. Her giggle was small, yet she still hid it behind her hand.

“Why’re you up here?”

“Oh, well, this is sort of ‘my spot’, or whatever. Most people don’t come up this way, so it’s pretty solitary. You’re, like, the first person I’ve seen on this trail in months,” the girl admitted.

“Disappointed?”

“What?”

“You said you liked the solitude. I could leave if you wa—”

“Calm yourself, it’s fine Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, sorry. And thanks. What’s, uh what’s your name?”

“I’m Chrysanthemum. Well, Chrys, because there’s no way in hell I’m going to unironically go by ‘Chrysanthemum.’ She/Hers.”

“I think Chrysanthemum’s a pretty cool name, actually. I like flowers. And the meanings behind the different kinds are really cool! Take your name, for example. I mean, chrysanthemums change meaning so drastically depending on the color. Oh, and, um, I’m Myrtle. She/Hers. Sorry, forgot to say that.”

“Flowers, huh? You’d like my mom. She actually got me a job at a flower shop, just as a pun. She’s awesome. I hate her.”

“She sounds really epic.”

“She is.” After a minute or so, she added, “So, what’s with your shoulder?”

“What about it?”

“You’ve been rubbing at it constantly.”

“Oh, yeah, I kind of got in a fight with my boyfriend. It’s fine.”

Chrys’ puppy-brown eyes were wide, her dark lips agape. “You know that’s not okay, right?”

“It’s fine! Well, it’s not, but—I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Good. Really, you should.”

“Th—thank you,” Myrtle stuttered out in disbelief. “I—sorry, people don’t normally look out for me like that.”

“Really? Well, they should.”

“I’m probably not worth it.”

“I’ve known you, what, five minutes? I  _ strongly  _ disagree.” Chrys has turned to look at her now and, under her gaze, Myrtle glowed.

“I’ll remember that.”

They settled back into silence, yet it felt natural somehow. Comfortable. Like they’d known each other a lifetime.

“Do you go to West Egg?” Myrtle asked.

“Unfortunately. You?”

“Ash.”

“What year?”

“Junior.”

“Same. Hey, can I get your number? Just to keep in touch, you know?”

“Yeah, totally!” Myrtle handed over her phone and Chrys punched in her number before handing it back.

“I’ll text you later then?”

“Mhm.”

“Sounds good. And please talk to your boyfriend. He really shouldn’t treat you like… that.”

“I will, thanks. I’ll see you around then, Chrys.”

“See you around, Myrtle.” Chrys gave her a small wave before continuing up the track. Myrtle’s stare lingered on her for as long as possible before she started heading back down. She dialed Cat as she neared the bottom of the trail, back in the city.

“Okay, where are you?” Cat asked.

Myrtle squinted at the road signs. “Uh… Fitz Ave. I think that’s near West.”

“Okay, you’re gonna wanna make a left when you get to that doughnut shop Paradise.”

“I can see it up ahead.”

“Good.”

_\- - - - - - - - - -_

“Hey ‘M!” Will shouted from the shop as she made her way across town. He was grimacing, leaning back against a pile of scraps trying to pass for a car. “You wanna work now? Since you were too busy with your little friends earlier?”

She sighed. “I don’t really gotta choice, do I?”

He shook his head, holding up a rag. She trudged over. She and Will kept a list of all the things he could fire her for. Half of them were made-up, but he could get his father to do whatever he wanted, and thus she complied.

Mentally, she added “having fun” to that list.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkwardness ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is so late, I lost track of time. This isn't as heavily edited as the other ones, hope you still enjoy.

Daisy would probably be more excited about her first day of school if it wasn’t the exact same every time. Go in, catch up with friends, go to the auditorium to review the never-changing policies, meet the monolithic teachers, and then meet with the cheer team afterward. The only difference this year was that Dani was with her, making snide comments at everything she could.

It was lunch and the two of them had just slipped into the cafeteria.

“You ready to meet the team?” Daisy asked.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?” Dani stuck out like a sore thumb as East. And individuality was not exactly the motto of Daisy’s group of friends. Nevertheless, she wanted Dani by her side.

“Definitely. You worry too much sometimes.”

She was right—Daisy wanted everything to be perfect as often as possible. Dani was always right about these things. She knew Daisy too well, but for some reason, Daisy never found it in her heart to care. Maybe, deep down, she wanted Dani to know her like that. Most people didn’t know her, the _ real  _ her, at all. “Come on.”

The second they joined the table everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to Dani, scrutinizing every aspect of her.

“Daisy, who’s this?” one of them drawled, crossing her legs and raising an eyebrow.

“This is Danielle, well, Dani, my best friend. She just transferred here from West.”

The entire group recoiled at the mention of the school. “So what’s she doing here?”

“I got an athletic scholarship,” Dani butted in.

“You should see her play, she’s really good!” Daisy said, admiration dripping off her tone like honey. Dani blushed. “I’m going to her practice with the softball team later, I’m so excited!”

“Wait,” Tom began from next to her, withdrawing his arm from around her shoulders. “I thought you were coming to my practice?”

“I go to yours every year, and Dani's new, she hasn’t made any friends yet.”  _ Besides, I’d prefer her company over yours anyway. Over anyone’s,  _ she thought.

“Yeah, but you’re  _ my  _ girlfriend!” Tom whined.

“I’ll stop by for a bit! Okay?” Daisy held up her hands. Tom could be such a brat sometimes. But he’d been her boyfriend since Freshman year—it wasn’t like she could just break up with him.

“Okay.” He pecked her quickly on the lips and she turned back to Dani, who had kept her eyes on her feet for a while, fidgeting and adjusting little parts of her uniform constantly. She didn’t even tie her tie right. It was kind of adorable. But from the way the rest of the group was staring daggers at her, it was clear they had quite a different opinion.

“Dani, Dani, you should tell them about Nick,” Daisy prodded, trying to get her back in the conversation. Besides, if there was one thing these people liked, it was gossip.

“Who’s Nick? A boyfriend?”

“No, he’s, uh, he’s Daisy’s cousin actually. We’re not dating.”

“Yet….”

“Okay, I said I’d go on  _ one _ date with the guy. That’s all.”

“Trust me, I know Nick. He’s perfect for you!” There was a certain lurch in Daisy’s stomach that she ignored. It happened whenever she tried to set Dani up, so it happened a lot. But Dani meant a lot to her, so she really did want her to have a partner. Or at least that’s what Daisy told herself every time she found herself turning to Dani instead of Tom at every occasion. 

“Sure.”

“So, you have a date planned yet or what?” one of the girls asked.

“Oh, uh, not really. I haven’t—”

“Come on, you said you would, Dani!”

“I know, I just—”

“You always have a million excuses.”

“Okay, fine! Look, my friend’s having a party next week, I’ll invite him over. Does that satisfy you?”

Daisy nodded.

“There’s a party?” a boy asked.

“Yeah, but you probably wouldn’t wanna come. The host’s from West.”

“Oh...”

“You know, I used to date a chick from West…”

The conversation droned on, but Daisy wasn’t listening. She was feeling very strange suddenly. She’d always been trying to get Dani to date someone, but now that it was actually happening, she was starting to have second thoughts. Maybe a small part of her clung to that bond they shared harder than she thought. Maybe just a little too hard….

Quickly, she excused herself and ran off to the bathroom. It was empty—perfect. She paced, beating thoughts out of her head.

_ Jealousy? Who would I be jealous of? I’m in a happy… happy-ish relationship and Dani’s just my best friend. Nothing more.  _ That “nothing more” punched her in the gut, her breath quickening.  _ It’s just—Dani’s never had a boyfriend before! And she and Nick really are perfect together. Things would just… change. It would change things too much and it would all get fucked up. Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Nothing more. That’s why this is freaking me out.  _ She stopped and looked in the mirror, turning those two words over in her head like dice.  _ Nothing more. _

“Daisy?”

She turned to see Dani’s head peeking through the door of the girl’s bathroom. “Oh, hey.”

“Thought I’d find you in here. And having a crisis, no less. You did always have that habit of sneaking off. What is it this time?”

“Oh, uh…” Daisy’s eyes scanned the ground. She jabbed her white sneakers into the floor, fussing with the edge of her skirt. “Just felt awkward about the team. Sorry about them being like that.”

Dani shrugged. “I can handle it.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn't have to.”

“It’s prep school, Daisy. I knew what I was getting into when I took the scholarship. Or, well, when my dad decided to take the scholarship.”

“You sure?”

“I’ll survive.”

\- - - - - - - - - -

  
Daisy sat on the bleachers, green and yellow pom poms resting at her feet. The metal beneath her was burning in the mid-August heat, but it didn’t bother her. Instead, she was more focused on watching Dani pitch. Or, rather, focusing on trying to focus on anything else other than the rippling of her muscles as she tossed the ball, sending it hurling forwards. Trying to focus on anything but her boisterous laugh, or the sweat running down her neck, or the long fingers she ran through her thick hair. No, Daisy was definitely far more entertained by the greenness of the grass and the blueness of the sky. And she  _ definitely _ wasn’t staring.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nblm/Nblw solidarity for y'all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shout-out to the Gatsby server because we just got a ton of new members!

Nick sighed, his eyes once again focused on the back of Chester’s head instead of on the equations written across the whiteboard. He was short, though, and sat in the back, which kept him perfectly unnoticeable. This gave him the remarked advantage of being able to zone out completely. He was already good at math, anyway. 

The hardest part of the class was not thinking about the total ass he made of himself at Cat’s party last week (or about that stupid bet). The second hardest was trying to have crushes on the girls around him, a task he quickly gave up on. They were cute, sure, and they seemed nice, but for some inexplicable reason he just couldn’t stir up anything but mild curiosity for any of them.  _ Inexplicable? It’s perfectly explicable, I’m just a coward. _

\- - - - - - - - - -

_Okay, math was hard,_ _but_ this _is Hell,_ he thought, standing in the corner of the boy’s changing room. The other boys around him were laughing, yelling, and playing. It was clear then that he had been fundamentally misplaced when sent off to get ready for gym with them. He began tuning into conversations around him.

“You’re going to Jay’s party this weekend, right?” one guy said.

“Who isn’t?” his friend replied.

Nick’s ear wandered to a knot of boys on his other side. 

“I’m totally going to fail this test.”

“Have you tried talking to Mey?”

“I don’t know, man. She scares me.”

His classmates’ conversations droned on, trite and boring. Nick had two comforts in the too loud, too small room. The first was a boy on a bench nearby. He was still wearing his normal clothes and his shoulders were hunched over. For a second, he caught Nick’s eye and smiled. He raised his hand in kind of greeting and Nick mirrored. There was an unspoken understanding between them.  _ So I’m not the only one anymore. _ Nick wondered if the boy felt as conflicted as he did whenever he saw public restrooms, or if he felt as dissatisfied when looking in the mirror, or—

_ Stay on coach’s good side you’ll die otherwise  _

He looked down at the text from Dani—his second comfort. It turned out that she was a far better distraction than the back of pretty boys’ heads. Partially because talking to her didn’t involve fifty reminders a minute that he was straight, but mainly because she was witty. And he had cycled through enough friend groups to know that that was a blessing. 

_ You should start on my eulogy _

_ Oh, I have: _

_ Here lies Nick Carraway. He died as he lived: Being a fucking idiot who’s bad at sports _

_ Yup, you got me pinned down _

_ I fancy myself a good character judge _

_ And what do you think of me? _

Dani didn’t respond for a while and he held his breath in anticipation. Finally, the text came.

_ Smart, but you have a stick up your ass. A bit self-righteous, but nice. Definitely in denial about several things. Awkward, but in a cute way. Kinda. A great friend, but I would like to see you get your ass kicked. Just once. 10/10. _

_ I’m about to start gym class so you might get your wish _

_ Imma need a play by play _

_ I’ll try. If it doesn’t come break out that eulogy _

_ Understood, a _ _ nd if you don’t die do you want to swing by paradise after school? _

_ The doughnut shop? _

_ Yep _

_ Sounds good. _

_ Ttyl? _

_ See you then. _

He smiled down at his phone before slipping it back into his backpack, turning back to the absolute hell that awaited him. The boy on the bench has disappeared into the massive throng of flesh, leaving him alone and pitiful.  _ All you need to do is survive,  _ he reminded himself.  _ How hard could it be? _

His answer came quickly: Incredibly hard.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens..... and the title finally gets explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo shout-out to me for finishing up the book for Act One of my Gatsby musical
> 
> (here are some of the songs: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPVGyfolyA56JTl3bh_Ba2A)

Jordan’s breaths were deep as they tried to keep themself calm. They were seated in the corner of Paradise, their leg bouncing like crazy under the table. But then Nick pushed open the door and began weaving through the tables to get to them, and suddenly their fears had to be put aside. They had a mission to do, their anxiety could wait.

Nick collapsed across from them, olive skin slicked in sweat. “Is it normally this fucking hot in October?”

“Hello to you too.”

“Sorry.”

“You should probably take the damn hoodie off if you’re so hot.”

Nick shucked the green sweatshirt from himself, revealing a white t-shirt.

“Better?”

“Yeah. So, what did you want to talk about?” Nick grabbed a donut hole from the plate between them, his head cocked. Jordan took another breath.

“Daisy wants me to date you.”

“I can tell.”

“But I don’t want to date you.”

“Ouch. But, understandable. I don’t want to date you either.”

“Good.”

“Is that all?”

“Daisy’s not going to shut up about this….”

“So what do you want to do about it? You’re not asking me to fake-date you, are you?” Nick’s face slowly dropped as he saw their dead-serious expression. “That’s exactly what you are asking me to do. Isn’t it?”

“I need a cover, Nick. If anyone found out about what I  _ am _ ...” They cringed, praying he knew what they were saying. “It would be a shit show.”

“What?”

Jordan sighed. “Guess I’m going to have to be straight with this. I’m not straight. I’m gay. Very gay. Extraordinarily gay.”

Nick’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise, but after that, his face settled into a frustratingly neutral position. “Oh. So you need me to cover for you? Help with the whole ‘straight’ demeanor?”

Jordan nodded, their mouth refusing to open.

“I can do that. How do we start?”

“My friend, Jay. He’s having a party this weekend. I’m going. Come with me. We’ll tell Daisy we kissed or something.”

“Ah, yes, the famous Jay Gatsby. His name seems to come up everywhere I go these days.”

“He throws good parties. That’s all that seems to matter.”

Soon, the two were laughing and smiling, popping doughnut holes into their mouths. But Jordan’s leg was still shaking. They weren’t finished yet. “There’s—there’s one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“About my gayness—gaiety? Does it matter? What I’m trying to say is that I’m not cis either.”

“Are you a guy then?”

“No, I’m non-binary.” The words slipped out easily. They were comfortable with him, or maybe the sun had melted their brain enough for them not to care anymore. “My—my name is Jordan, my pronouns are they/them.”

“Good to know, Jo.”

“Did you mean for that to rhyme, or—”

“Oh shit! That’s just the writer in me, I guess.”

“I keep forgetting that you do that. You said you had inspiration troubles, right?”

“Yeah, but I took your advice! Starting jotting down everything vaguely interesting that’s happened.”

“And?”

“Haven’t gotten invested yet.” He pulled a small notebook from his bag, handing it over.

“ _ West Egg—Recollections, _ ” Jordan read. “That’s a terrible title.”

“Have any better ideas?”

“Scrambled. West Egg High: Scrambled.”

Nick burst out in laughter, nearly screaming. “Oh my God. Well, I  _ have _ to do it now!” He snatched back the notebook, pulled a pencil from his pocket, and started furiously erasing.

“You’re actually doing it?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“You’re giving me too much power, Nick. You’ve set a dangerous precedent.”

“Then let’s hope it’s a good one. Either way, c’est la vie.”

Their conversation moved on, jumping from hobbies to school to drama to politics (though they quickly realized that was a mistake for a conversation topic), and so forth. And Nick didn’t flinch whatsoever. ‘Jordan’ slipped from his tongue as easily as ‘Dani’ had. ‘They’ as easy as ‘she’. Each time was like a cool breeze blowing through them, a sigh of relief. East Egg might be a nightmare, but Nick was there, and Daisy was there, and Jay was there. Maybe things would be okay.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Nevermind. This was not okay. This was not okay because Jordan’s phone was dead and stuffed in their backpack. This was not okay because their ass was getting burned by the metal bleachers. But mostly, this was not okay because their friends were playing baseball on a co-ed team, whilst Jordan was sitting on the bleachers and watching. When Lucille had texted—

_ the team’s practicing you wanna come?  _

—Jordan thought it was a good idea. Now? Not so much. There was only one other person on the bleachers, someone who was  _ somehow _ surviving in black jeans. Jordan cocked their head, certain they knew them.

“Chrys?”

“Jordan?”

“I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“How’s East?”

Jordan gagged.

“I thought so. Then again, West’s not that better.”

“Glad to know _ you _ haven’t changed.”

“Everyone’s being such bastards to me this year, yeesh.”

“Only ‘cause you’re a bastard to everyone.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be an anti-social bitch if people made an effort to be nice, ever think of that?”

“Chicken and the egg.”

Chrys studied them for a moment. “Everyone’s a bastard to you too, why  _ aren’t _ you a bitch about it?”

Jordan’s mind floated back to Daisy—the twinkle of her eyes, how she always smelled of vanilla. “I’ve got a few people. Maybe that’s what you need.”

Chrys flushed.

“You have someone, don’t you?”

“I might. I—I met a girl last week. We’re  _ friends, _ Jordan. That’s it.”

Jordan rolled their eyes. “Sure. Whatever you wanna say.”

“Jordy!” Lucille called from the field, drawing Jordan’s attention immediately. “Did you  _ see _ that hit?”

“Yup,” they responded on default. “Also, my phone kinda crashed, so I’m gonna head home.”

“Aw, fine. See ya later, Jordy.”

“See ya.” They whirled back around to Chrys. “Just give me her name before I go.”

“Jo—”

“Please?”

“Myrtle. Her name is Myrtle. You happy?”

“You both have flower names! How cute!” Jordan flashed a smile and left. _So Chrys has a totally-not-girlfriend, and Luce is on the baseball team, and Jay’s the most popular kid at West, and I’m… a closeted softball player fake-dating my crush’s cousin. What the fuck happened to me?_


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And they finally meet :)
> 
> CW for internalized homophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me referencing my own musical in my fic.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqNqUtpz-NI&list=PLRb4t0lBb2hYeke8TspFdKMob8V4IgVs4&index=7
> 
> Apologies for projecting big-time.

Jay stared at his reflection. Packer shoved down his pants, binder strapped over his chest. Jeans oversized to cover his hips, button-up tucked in. His rich brown skin was soft as velvet, his blonde curls overly-styled. He’d been told he looked handsome, but every time he looked at himself all he could see was something hideous. Grotesque. Wearing someone else’s skin. Living someone else’s life.

Noise broke through his thoughts. It emanated from the room below, threatening to rip his house to shreds. Music, shouting, singing. A party at full swing. He groaned. Those parties were the only reason he hadn’t been shunned yet. Still, he hated them. He hated the chaos, the brightness, the  _ noise _ . 

_ For Daisy, _ he thought.  _ This is for Daisy. She’ll be here one day and she’ll remember you and it’ll all be right again. It’ll all be over. _ He looked back over at the mirror, picturing himself with her. Short, pretty, rich. A  _ cheerleader _ snuggled under  _ his _ arm. Daisy made him feel like a man. Made him feel like himself.

_ On my way be there in 5, _ Jordan texted.

_ Is Daisy with u? _

_ Tom took her out _

His fist curled at his side, fingernails digging at his skin.  _ Tom.  _ Another obstacle.

_ Im bringing Nick tho _

_ Who? _

_ My fake boyfriend? new kid at west? Daisy’s cousin? _

His back shot straight, his eyes wide.

_ Daisy’s cousin??? _

_ Thought you’d like to meet him ;)) _

_ Jordan… _

_ Right, right. You’re totally not gay. I forgot ;) _

_ I hate you _

_ Love you too bro see you soon. _

\- - - - - - - - - -

Jordan burst through his door without a care in the world. Jay sat on the edge of his bed, back straight with his hands folded neatly in his lap. Jordan burst out giggling.

“You look ridiculous.”

“I look professional.”

“You’re at a fucking high school party.”

“And I’m about to meet the cousin of the love of my life. I reserve the right to be a little formal.”

“Listen to yourself.  _ Love of my life. _ You dated for a few months—”

“Ten months, exactly.”

“You were thirteen! That’s middle school!”

“I thought you supported all of this! You’re my greatest accomplice!”

“I’m just saying that you should maybe keep your mind open. Sometimes it feels like you never left eighth grade.”

“You’re an ass, you know.”

“I take pride in it.” Jordan smiled, cocky and disarming.  _ Why do I always let them win?  _ “Ready to meet him?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Jordan slipped out of the room, only to return a moment later with Nick in tow. Jay’s eyes locked on him as soon as he entered the room. Shaggy brown hair, sunken green eyes, and sharp features—he was Daisy’s antithesis in every way. She was cheerful and effervescent, he was shy and withdrawn, his cheeks burning red.  _ Oh. _ Jay had been staring at him for how long now?  _ Good job. You fucked it up before you even spoke.  _ Stumbling, he stood and approached Nick.

“Nick, is it? I’m Jay… Gatsby. Jay Gatsby. That’s—that’s my name.”

“You sure about that?” Jordan called. They’d perched themself on his windowsill, watching the whole interaction with a smirk. “You seem confused.” Jay rolled his eyes at them, then looked back to Nick and flashed a smile, hoping it would patch over the mess of an introduction.

Nick went scarlet. “Yeah, I’m Nick. Carraway’s my surna—last name, but that’s irrelevant.”

“You’re new to West Egg, right?”

“Just transferred this year. I guess I’ve been there for two months, then? Right?” He looked over at Jordan.

“Yeah, about that much.”

“Wait, it’s October already?” Jay asked.

“Fuck yes, finally!”

“What’s so great about October?”

“Halloween, bitches.” Jordan pumped a fist into the air and Jay tentatively followed. “Oh—there’s a good ice-breaker. Favorite holidays?”

“Come on, we don’t need ice-breakers, Jordan. What are we, ten? We can make our own conversation.”

“I know how bad conversation-partners both of you are. But, at your request, I’ll leave it up to you two idiots to figure it out. Good fucking luck.” Jordan smirked and closed the door behind them. So this was it. Jay was alone with Daisy’s cousin. This was his chance.

He didn’t speak. He couldn’t speak.

Not when Nick was looking at him like that.

“What?” Jay asked.

“What?”

“You’re staring.”

“What? Sorry.” For the third time that night, Nick became redder.  _ How can one person blush so much? Wait, am  _ I  _ making him do that? _

“So, any hobbies?”

“I’m a writer.”

“Really? What do you write?”

“Historical stuff, mostly. I’ve been thinking up this drama set in the twenties for a while. It’s my favorite era to write in. It’s just so fascinating, how everything shifted so fast after the war. And then there’s the story potential of all of it, especially with the whole dichotomy between… I’m rambling now, aren’t I? I’m just gonna shut up.”

“No, I—I don’t mind.” Jay looked over him as he continued.  _ Daisy’s antithesis.  _ Smart, awkward,  _ real. _ A tangible person, sitting a foot away from him. His quick words ringing in his ears, his eyes shining with excitement, his lips—

_ Don’t think about his lips. _

“Anyway, I finally started writing again. Jordan gave me the idea for my current work, actually.”

“Really, what is it?”

“Just recording shit from school.”

“Like a diary?”

“More of a memoir. Anything interesting—it goes in the notebook.”

“So… a diary?”

“It’s not—okay, it kind of is.”

Jay laughed. “No shame, though. I like journaling. It’s fun to let my mind run loose for a little while.”

“Yeah, it must be.”

Tension hung between them, tight enough to snap. “What’s it called?”

“My diary?”

“Your  _ memoir _ . What’s it called?”

“You’re going to laugh.”

“I won’t!”

“Yes, you will!”

“Cross my heart.” Jay placed a hand over his chest.

“Fine. It’s called  _ Scrambled. _ ”

“ _ Scrambled? _ ”

“‘Cause, you know, West  _ Egg. _ It was Jordan’s idea.”

“Jordan always had a thing for odd ideas.”

“They’re a strange one, aren’t they? Smart, but crazy. Comfortable, but scary.”

“A true enigma.”

Nick chuckled. “You’re one to talk.”

“Oh?”

“You’re the most popular guy at school, yet here you are, hiding in your bedroom with the new kid whilst a party rages below.”

“I’m not a fan of parties.”

“Yet you throw them each week.” Nick turned so he was facing him head on. He moved closer, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. “You are a mystery, Jay Gatsby.”

Jay smiled and suddenly he found himself looking into Nick's eyes. Suddenly, he found himself too close to Nick’s face. Too close to Nick’s lips.  _ Is he going to kiss me? _

_ Wait, shit. Daisy. _

He leaned back. “Do tell, Sherlock. And do you intend to unravel this case?”

Nick was looking down again now, withdrawn. “It would be elementary.”

“Then I look forward to hearing about it.”

Jordan burst through the door, red-faced and sweat-soaked. “Nick, we gotta go.”

“What? Why?”

“I might have started a riot.”

“What the hell?”

“It was an accident, Jay! Anyway, I have to leave before Micheal pummels me, and  _ he’s _ my ride, so….” Jordan seized Nick by the wrist, hoisting him up. “We’ll talk later.”

“Uh, bye,” Nick muttered as Jordan dragged him away. Jay shut the door after them, then slinked down. He sat on the floor, head in his hands.  _ Goddamnit,  _ Daisy _ is what you should be focused on here! Besides, you’re straight, remember? You’re a fucking man who likes fucking women. So get your head in the game. _ He set his jaw and unlocked his window, crawling out onto the roof. He watched as people left the house, the line of cars slowly dwindling.

Then, it started. The green lights. Every time one of East Egg’s sports teams had a match, green lights would flash from across town. He stared at them until his eyes were dry.  _ Daisy’s over there. She’s there. She’s coming. _

_ Daisy. _

_ Daisy. _

_ Daisy. _

The emerald glow washed over him and he sighed. The sun would start setting soon and he’d have to take care of the mess downstairs, but in that moment, it was just him and that light.  _ Green. The color of Nick’s eyes. Stop thinking about him. Think about her. _

_ Daisy. _

_ Daisy. _

_ Daisy. _


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myrtle gets her life together (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so sorry this is coming so late! I'll try to get back to my consistent schedule.

Myrtle squirmed in her chair, looking everywhere but the teacher. This was the first time her science teacher had called her in all year. Her chest was tight, her hands clutching her jeans. This was her best subject. There was no way she was about to fail it.

“Myrtle?”

“Yes?” she squeaked.

“You’ve started texting in class. Now, you’ve always been one of my best students, and I was concerned about this change. Care to talk about it?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Button. I’ll focus.”

The teacher kept a critical eye on her. “Is that a promise?”

“Yes. I swear.”

“Good.” She handed over the confiscated phone. “You’re a good kid, Myrtle.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, I’ve been talking to some of the faculty about scholarships and—”

“ _ What? _ ”

“West Egg High School is giving out scholarships to exceptional students. I think you should apply.”

“I really don’t know.”

“Well, just think it over, alright?”

“Alright.”

\- - - - - - - - - -

“She confiscated it?” Chrys asked, chuckling. They were at the flower shop where she worked. Myrtle had been entranced by it from the moment she entered. She had never seen so many flowers in one place in her entire life. “You’ve gone bad, M.”

“I have not!” She swatted her arm.

“I’ve corrupted you.”

“Shut up.”

“Admit it.”

“Never.”

“I’ll coax it out, eventually. I swear.”

The door to the shop opened and the two immediately jumped away from each other, Chrys’ face plastered with a false smile. Myrtle’s stomach dropped. Tom was staring at her.

“Hello, sir, how may I help you?” Chrys asked, her tone even and rehearsed.

“Just browsing,” Tom grunted. He hitched his chin at Myrtle. She followed him to a corner stuffed with roses.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed at him.

“Buying flowers. What does it look like?”

“For Daisy?”

He drew in a breath, then smiled. His eyes were blank. “For you.”

“Really?”

He nodded, plucking a few roses from the bunch and bringing them to the counter. “See?” He pressed a wet kiss into her cheek. Chrys shuddered.

“That’ll be $5.30, sir.”

He slapped the money onto the counter and handed Myrtle the limp flowers. She half-smiled. “I’ll see you this weekend?”

She nodded and he took off.

“So that’s the boyfriend?” Chrys asked, relaxed again.

“What? No, he’s not—”

“ _ He _ seemed to think he was your boyfriend.”

“He’s just my—”

“Oh my god. He’s your mistress.”

“That’s—sure. Fine, let’s say that.”

Chrys smirked. “You  _ are _ bad.”

“A little. So what?”

“Nothing. Knowing what your boyfriend’s like, you deserve something on the side. By the way, have you talked to him yet?”

Myrtle shook her head.

“Why not?”

“‘Cause he scares me.”

“So leave him.”

_ He’d fire me—  _ Myrtle stopped for a second. Chrys was talking about Tom, though she didn’t realize. What  _ was _ stopping her?  _ He’s big. He’s strong. Then again, Cat’s strong. _ “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” Chrys smiled. “Do you want a job?”

“What?”

“A job. Here. I mean, you like flowers and you like me. It seems like a good fit. Much better than the mechanic shop or whatever.”

“I—I’d love that!”

“I’ll get you an interview, then.”

Myrtle wrapped her arms around her. “Thank you, Chrys. For everything.”

Chrys patted her back and Myrtle buried her face in her shoulder. She was smooth and silky against Myrtle’s chapped skin. She smelled like maple syrup and cinnamon. Myrtle looked up at her. She looked like a saint.  _ Oh no. I’m falling again. _

“M?”

She blushed, pulling away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

She cleared her throat, looking just past Chrys’ face. “I should really get going.”

“Ah shit.”

“Yeah, sorry. Cat’ll yell at me if I don’t show up.”

“Text me later?”

“You got it.” Myrtle hugged her once more for good measure and took off, smiling at the sky.  _ The job, the scholarship, Chrys.  _ Things were looking up. With barely a moment of thought, she pulled out her phone.

_ “‘Sup loser, this is Tom. Don’t bother leaving a message, I probably won’t listen to it, L-M-A-O.” _

Myrtle sighed. The beep. She took a breath, this was it.

“Hey Tom, it’s Myrtle. We’re done.” She finished the call and laughed, half in disbelief. She’d done it. She’d broken up with Tom Buchanan. Only one more shitty boyfriend to go and then _she_ was  _ free _ .


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy you pansexual idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I am once again posting this at midnight :)
> 
> Thank you to the Gatsby server for helping me work out what the characters' signs should be.
> 
> I am so soft for this chapter y'all asgdfgfsgfhg

Tom slammed his locker shut. Daisy shot him a glare, but he ignored her, grunting as he started down the hall.

“Wait!” She called after him, slumping against her locker. Dani, eyebrows raised, joined her.

“Jesus….” she began.

“Has he been acting really pissy lately, or is that just me?”

“He’s  _ always _ acting pissy. But, you’re right. He’s been even more of a dick all week”

Daisy slammed her head against the locker, groaning. “Oh fuck, we have a date tonight. God, I don’t wanna spend a couple hours alone with that.”

“So ditch it.”

She looked up at her. Dani’s face was so relaxed, the words so casual. “Stand up my boyfriend of three years?”

“Why not? He’s an ass, why'd you wanna ruin your night?”

Daisy chewed at her lip. She made a good point. “What would I do anyway?”

“I found this spot up the mountain. You can see the whole city, it— it’s really nice. Maybe we could go up? I’ve been meaning to show it to you.”

Rolling her eyes, Daisy jerked open her locker, rummaging through to find her math textbook. “Right, because ditching my boyfriend to hang out with my softball-playing best friend isn’t suspicious at all.”

Dani laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulder as they made their way down the hall. “Your softball-playing best friend with a boyfriend. Please, no one’s going to think anything of it. I don’t think anyone’ll even know.”

But, given the stares tracking them as they walked, Daisy was pretty sure that people would  _ definitely _ think something of it. Still, something about Dani’s arm around her shoulder made her mind go fuzzy. Fuzzy in a way that made the glares irrelevant. “S— sure. I mean, why not?”

“That’s the spirit.”

\- - - - - - - - - -

The car rocked again and Daisy clutched at her seat. She glanced out the window, stiffening as the wheel bounced across the edge of the road.

“You’re going to get us killed!”

“Just hang on, we’re almost there.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you drive. Especially in the dark.”

“Please, it takes two to make an accident.”

“We’re on the side of a mountain. I’m pretty sure we can still topple over without another bad driver.”

“I’m not a bad driver!”

“Tell that to my heartbeat! And Tom’s broken leg from Sophomore year.”

Dani bit her lip, keeping her eyes on the road. Daisy chuckled awkwardly, cursing herself.  _ Why did I have to bring up Tom? _

“For the record,” she began, tentatively. “It was pretty killer to see him in stitches. Really took the fire out of his whole ‘manly-man’ thing.”

“Then I’ll make sure to run over your boyfriend more often. Hell, I might just take out the whole football team.”

“See,  _ that’s _ how you get them to let you onto the baseball team. I’ll burn down the gym if that doesn’t do it.”

“Ha! I can imagine the headlines. ‘Teenage lesbian commits arson and murder for sports grudge.’”

Daisy sat up. “Lesbian?”

The car jerked as they pulled up onto a flat plateau. “Oh shit.” Dani repositioned the car to face outwards, then pulled to a stop. “Did  _ not _ mean to say that.”

“Well, uh, is—is it true?”

Dani sighed, leaning against the wheel. Daisy could see the gears turning in her head. Cautiously, she reached out, grabbing one of Dani’s hands.

“It’s okay if it is.”

“That’s, uh, that’s good. ‘Cause it is.”

“O—oh.”

“Yeah… I’m gay.”

The words struck her, sending a million different thoughts running through her head. One prevailed though:  _ I have a chance. _

_ That’s ridiculous, _ she reasoned.  _ I mean, a chance at what? Dating her? I’m not even gay! Well, I don’t think I am. Wasn’t there that one girl who was, like, both, or whatever? Bi? No, no, it was something else… pan? That sounds about right. I could be that. But it doesn’t matter anyway, because I  _ have _ a boyfriend. And so does Dani!  _ Wait.

“What—what about Nick?”

“Oh, yeah, he knows.”

“But what about—”

“We faked it. Big time.”

“Why?”

“You said it yourself. ‘Softball-playing best friend.’ I’m not exactly the best at hiding it. And East Egg’s not exactly a progressive place.”

She was still holding something back, Daisy could tell. “I, uh, I see. I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She was facing her now, her grey eyes bearing into her soul. Daisy flushed, warmth catapulting through her body.

“For pushing all those guys on you? For helping you get the scholarship? I don’t know… I just feel like I should be sorry for something.”

“Well, you don’t, to be clear. But thanks. It means… it means a lot.” Dani chuckled. “Whelp, this kind of went off the rails.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Can we just… not talk about this?”

“What is there to talk about? It seems pretty simple to me.”

“Good. Then can we just enjoy the view?”

“That works for me.” Daisy shot her a comforting glance and leaned back in her seat. Dani was right—she really could see the whole city. Little sparkling lights dotted the horizon in every color. It was breathtaking. Looking up, the whole sky was visible too. Not a cloud in sight.

“ _ Pegasus _ ,” she whispered, pointing out a constellation.

“Huh?”

“That constellation over there. It’s called Pegasus. You know, after the horse?”

Dani wrinkled her brow, turning back to her. “You know constellations?”

“I… may have gone through a small astrology phase Freshman year.”

“What? How did I not know about this?”

“It was baseball season, you were busy!”

Dani scoffed. “Okay, hit me. What’s my sign?”

“Uh, Leo, I think.”

“That’s the lion, right?”

“Yeah.”

Dani ran a hand through her thick hair, shaking it out like a mane. Daisy’s finger itched to touch it. Her stomach knotted itself together. Dani looked gorgeous in the moonlight. “I like that. What about you?”

“Gemini.”

“Those are the little two-faced bitches, right?”

“Hey!” Daisy hit her shoulder. “We’re not  _ all _ bad.”

“Oh, got it. Just you then?”

“Dani!”

“I’m kidding! Sort of…. No, I am. This is fun, though. What about the others? You know, your little friends. What are their signs?”

“Oh, I’m not sure, actually… Tom’s an Aries.” The first time Tom had asked her out, she’d immediately looked up their sign compatibility. A few sites told her that it was a perfect fit. Maybe that was why she’d stayed with him so long? It was a stupid excuse.

“Huh. What’re those again?”

“Confident, determined, short-tempered.”

“Stubborn as an ass?”

“Yep.”

“That’s him, alright. Although I’d say egotistical more than ‘confident.’”

“You really hate him, don’t you?”

“I don’t like the way he treats you.”

Something lodged itself at the back of Daisy’s throat. Something unspeakable. A love confession?

No, no, it could be that, she wasn’t…

There was really no use denying it anymore, though. Was there? She was in love with her best friend.

_ Shit _ .

“Daisy, look,” Dani prompted, pointing something out. She squinted, following the line of her finger. Then she saw it— his brilliant patch of green light, bathing the whole world in emerald. 

“Holy… it’s like we’re in Oz! What is that?”

“It’s the school.”

“What?”

“They do this for every event, did you not notice?”

“No, no, I did. I’ve just never seen it like this before. It’s beautiful.”

“I know, right?” Dani’s voice was soft, contemplative. Beautiful.

“It’s so gaudy up close, but, from here… wow.”

“That’s so symbolic.”

She laughed. “I wasn’t trying to be, but, you’re right. I have to tell Nick about this so he can slip it into one of his little stories.”

“Oh, this is too perfect. He’ll go insane.”

Dani’s phone went off, little bings echoing through the car. She checked it and sighed.

“What is it?”

“Jay’s having another crisis. I’m sorry to cut this short, but, you know—duty calls.”

“Wait, Jay? I feel like I know that name.”

Dani stared back at her, dumbfounded. “Jay Gatsby? You dated throughout all of eighth grade?”

“Oh! Oh yeah, Jay! I remember him now. He was a sweet kid. You’re still friends?”

“He ended up going to West. He’s actually, like, insanely popular.”

“Really? He always felt like more of a loner to me,” Daisy contested. She was astonished that she’d ever forgotten about him. He was probably the first decent boy she’d ever met. And the last too.

“That’s the genius of it. He throws these incredible parties, but stays in his room the whole time.”

“Smartass. God, it’s really been five years since I saw him, huh?”

“Jeez, yeah, you’re right. That’s—”

“Insane. We should reconnect sometime.” Daisy cringed. That did not come out how she meant it.

Dani flinched, starting up the car again. “Ye—yeah, that would be cool.” There was a strain in her voice, just barely noticeable. It stirred hope in Daisy, however silly that was. “So, I’ll drop you off at home, then?”

“Huh? Oh— oh, yeah.”

Dani nodded at her and they started down the mountain. Soon, all middle school nostalgia and desperate sapphic pining had to be put aside for a more pressing matter: making sure Dani didn’t drive her off a cliff.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when this fic was supposed to stick to the original novel? Anyway we're 11 chapters in and just now meeting Wolfsheim so
> 
> Take some pining Nick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I thought I was going to be sleeping tonight
> 
> There's a reference to a plot-point from Chapter 3 in here

A smile worked its way across Nick’s face as he wrote. It had been a while since he’d worked so quickly. He sat on his steps, scribbling down updates into his… what was this whole  _ Scrambled _ thing, anyway? Memoir? Journal?  _ Diary? _

His throat went dry.  _ That’s what Jay called it. _ His eyes flitting towards the next house down. He fiddled with his pencil, mind going a mile a minute.  _ You have to stop thinking about him, _ he reprimanded himself. _ You’ve been doing this since the weekend. You’re not even gay! _

Wasn’t he though? What about how red he got when Jay looked at him  _ like that _ ? Or what about how he hadn’t stopped thinking about him since they met? Or that spark that went off in his brain when Jordan came out—like finding a kinsman.

_ No, no, no—stop it. I’m not—that’s not anything. _

His bottom lip was shoved between his teeth and he gnawed at it. His eyes were pressed shut in thought, eyebrows furrowing and unforrowing themselves rapidly. He continued to toy with the pencil, slipping it in-and-out of his sweaty fingers.

_ I’m. Not. Fucking. Gay. _

His hands balled into fists, knuckles turning white.

_ Snap!  _ His pencil broke apart and he opened his eyes, gaping in shock.

“Fuck!” he shouted, shoving the broken halves into his messenger bag. He rummaged through it, trying to find a replacement. “Fucking shit.”

“Are you alright?”

He turned around, wearing an awkward smile. “Oh, yeah, I’m fi—” The words caught in his throat. Jay was standing a few feet away—Nick was hyper-aware of the amount of space between them—on the sidewalk, head cocked to the side like a curious puppy. He wore a peach cardigan and white polo, both falling off his frame in a way that made him look tiny. Still, his dark eyes glistened like stars, large and long-lashed, like a fawn. His curls shone even brighter in the sun, turning from blond to gold.

_ I’m not gay. I’m not gay. I’m not gay, _ Nick reminded himself. “I’m fine. Just looking for a pencil, that’s all.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jay pulled a pencil from the front pouch of his backpack and handed it to Nick. He accepted the courtesy, muttering a thank you.

“Don’t thank me, it’s really not a problem. I have plenty to spare if you’re ever in need.”

“Oh, um, thanks. That’s—I’ll probably take you up on that. I cycle through pencils like wildfire.”

“Let me guess; it’s a writer thing? By the way, how’s your memoir going?”

“It’s going well. Just finishing up my section on your party.”

“Oh?” Jay’s eyebrows raised and he pursed his lips together, almost like a kiss. Suddenly Nick was thinking about kissing him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He shivered, pushing them back down again. Jay’s face relaxed from its initial surprise within a matter of seconds. “Can I see?” he asked.

Nick blushed and shook his head. “Still a little shy about my writing, sorry.”

“I’m quite shy myself.”

“And yet here you are, talking to a near-stranger in the middle of the street.”

“Well, I guess I’m a bit of an enigma, as an acquaintance of mine once put it,” Jay chuckled.

Nick opened his mouth to respond, but a yellow school bus pulled up in front of them before he could.

“Ah, well, there’s our ride.” Jay offered Nick a hand up. “My lord,” he laughed.

Bile churned in Nick’s stomach at the final word. No stranger to that discomfort, he did what he was best at—pushed it all down and forgot. “Thank you, squire,” he replied, taking his hand and standing.

\- - - - - - - - - -

They settled into their seats on the bus, with Jay pressed against the window and Nick right beside him. He tried not to think about their proximity, or how he could so easily brush his hand against Jay’s “on accident”, or how his seatmate smelled like oranges.  _ What cologne is that? _ he wondered.

Suddenly, a senior girl stood in front of him. She was short, just barely clearing the top of Nick’s head, despite him sitting down. Her auburn hair was tied into a low bun and silver glasses sat perched on her hooked nose. Her face was stern, serious, and appeared much older than her age. Her black eyes bore right through him, landing on Jay.

“Gatsby,” she barked. Jay’s head snapped towards her alarmingly quickly.

“Hey, Mey. What’s up?” he stuttered, his charisma snapped up in an instant.

“We need to talk. Soon.”

“O—okay?”

“November first. Meet me behind the bleachers.”

“November first? But that’s in a week, and you said soon—”

“I’m busy this week,” she said matter-of-factly, reaching past Nick to pat Jay’s cheek. “You’re not my only protege, Gatsby.”

She pulled back, and, for the first time, actually acknowledged Nick. “Charming one, isn’t he?” she asked. Nick nodded reflexively and she took a seat across the aisle, pulling out her phone and earbuds. Making sure she was thoroughly distracted, Nick whipped back around to Jay, mouth hanging open.

“You  _ know _ Mey Wolfshiem?”

“Yeah? We’ve been friends since freshman year. Why?”

“She’s, like, insanely smart. And also terrifying.”

“I know. She has the whole school under her thumb.”

“Exactly! And you’re  _ friends _ with her? Just… casually?”

Jay shrugged. “She’s the kind of person you want to keep around.”

He pulled a book from his bag and started reading.  _ So nonchalant,  _ Nick noted, but his mind was elsewhere.  _ Am I the kind of person you’d want to keep around? That  _ he _ wants to keep around?  _ His eyes scanned Mey, quickly landing on her skirt. It was sapphire velvet and pleated, reaching down to just above her knee. He stared at it, watching the light reflect on the fabric as she shifted. He squirmed in his own jeans, suddenly uncomfortable. He ripped his eyes off of the skirt, focusing on the ceiling as the bus chugged along.

_ I am  _ straight _ and I am a  _ man _ , for fuck’s sake.  _ But there was something so un-heterosexual or cisgender about getting jealous over a girl’s skirt and working himself up over the boy on his shoulder.  _ Wait _ . He glanced down to confirm. Yes, Jay’s head was on his shoulder, and, yes, he was lightly snoring. Nick froze, his mind going completely blank. He turned pink all over, his leg shaking.  _ Oh no, oh no, oh dear Lord, no. _

Jay’s eyes fluttered open and he gazed up at him. Nick’s heart was beating out of his chest, which was only made worse by the fact that Jay could  _ definitely _ hear it. Jay looked between them and jerked away, apologies written all over his face. “You—you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” Nick gulped. “I think I just lost a bet.”


End file.
